Travel Reference
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make people lose their balance and feel stupid, vulnerable and alienated. It can lead indi-
viduals to conclude that returning was a bad choice.
READAPTATION TO HOME CULTURE
: Given time, returned expatriates will re-
familiarize themselves with the home environment and appreciate what is there. They fi-
nally accept what they have given up in the foreign society and are happy to settle down at
home.
Readaptation is a gradual process rather than a distinct stage that a person goes through.
It will not take place until the individual has passed through the first three stages and is able
to understand what is going through his or her own mind.
Understanding the stages of reacculturation does not necessarily make it easier or pleas-
ant to endure. However, reminding yourself when things seem tough that, after all, what
you are going through is only normal, is the best—and only—way to deal with reverse cul-
tural shock. It is vital to avoid becoming too skeptical or cynical about the return home and
not to run back overseas before giving yourself and family members a chance to cope with
the re-entry.
Individuals returning from foreign places need time to readjust and confront their reverse
cultural shock. Inevitably, an ex-expatriate will fit back in to the home environment. but he
or she always will be a different individual because of their unique experience.
Returnees need to be highly sensitive and not impose their views on others who may not
have had the privilege to experience or understand what they had overseas. It is important
to resist holding oneself above others and remind oneself not to loudly compare one society
to the other.
Reverse cultural shock comes as a painful surprise. Eventually the discomfort and neg-
ative feelings will dissipate, and the returnee will fit in and feel comfortable back home. It
takes time, as little as six months or as long as two years, before the last vestiges of reverse
cultural shock fade away. As long as a returnee is prepared to go through re-acculturation,
and is sensitive to himself or herself and to those around, he or she can make the adjust-
ment less painful for everyone concerned.
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